Eight 9th the One
by Idlesana
Summary: Vaguely Law remembers being told by various members of the Straw Hat crew that whatever it was the captain of the Heart Pirates thought the rules of this alliance would be, it was secondary compared to Luffy's views on the matter.


**A/N:** I don't have the time or room in my tiny, tiny heart for this ship! But dammit, I can't help it... They're so cute.

Something, something. It's a bit of a mess, this story. As usual.

* * *

Luffy doesn't seem to put much faith in numbers. He doesn't count the probability of his victories in percentages, isn't fazed by the amount of times he's almost died and makes a reluctant face when fleets counting up to over five thousand men adopt him as their parent after he has recklessly crashed through battles against and with them before taking down one of the seven warlords armed with nothing but his fists and refusal to lose (while carrying the weight of their fates on his relatively small shoulders, but no one's quite as literally as he had Law's).

Law knows this. He has come to learn that Luffy doesn't listen to the conclusions he has drawn from his calculations on how they could maybe take on one of the four emperors, doesn't care about the force that comes with sheer numbers, just waving a good riddance when he finally sends the last of his new burly children away.

So, when Law catches Luffy sitting on his usual seat on top of Sunny's head, gaze on the horizon (always looking forward, seldom occupying the rear of the boat because what's the point of mulling over things gone by even if Law reminds him that sometimes, the key to tomorrow's victories laid in yesterday's defeats) and observes him unfisting the weapons he calls his hands one finger at a time, he finds himself putting other priorities aside (like herding his own crew back to the submarine so that they too could prepare to put some distance between them and the insanity that was the Straw Hat crew) and halts as if he's being held captive by his own curiosity.

One finger first, then two, three, four… Until Straw Hat has eight of them up, two still curled down when he stops to ponder. Then a huge smile suddenly spreads on his face, and a ninth finger joins the party.

"What are you doing?" Law asks, looking up at the other captain from where he's standing on the deck. Luffy's smile doesn't go anywhere when he turns to look back at him.

"Ah, Torao," he says with too much cheer. It doesn't sound like a greeting, more like a statement that the surgeon's existence has been remembered. The last of his fingers juts up, and Luffy claps his hands happily. Law isn't sure if the other captain just wanted to make more noise, or if the last one was an inclusion to whatever it was he had been doing.

But more importantly.

"It's _Trafalgar_ ," he grunts, thinking that if he keeps correcting his name as persistently as this guy is butchering it, then perhaps one day Luffy will get it right. His efforts only make Luffy laugh at him. Keeping onto his hat, the pirate jumps down from his perch.

"You're funny, _Torao_ ," Luffy grins when he lands right into Law's personal space. The (lack of) distance is something Law does nothing about, because taking a step back now would be like admitting that he's intimidated by the other's proximity.

He's in no hurry to admit such a thing.

"I was counting," Luffy tells him, and it is a matter of a fact. Nothing else.

"What are the odds of that?" There is a small tug at the corner of his mouth, an automatic response these days to Luffy's smiles that aren't scarce. When Luffy sticks his tongue out at him as a show on what he thought about his subtle mock, Law can't help it. He actually chuckles.

"It was fun partying with the guys, but enough is enough," Luffy states, looking sour for a moment longer before his jovial nature makes a comeback. "It's nicer when it's not so crowded, right?"

Straw Hat looks around and smiles when he spots his own crewmembers amongst Law's, all mingling and making merry while the submarine of the Heart Pirates is still attached to Sunny's side. Confidently, Luffy asks, "This is enough, isn't it?"

Ah.

So that's what it was.

"Who's the ninth?" Law asks out of curiosity, having no doubt concerning the first eight. Luffy seems overly excited that he had bothered to ask.

"Well, there's Zoro, and Nami, and Usopp-" he beings to list, raising a finger at the mention of each name.

"The first eight are obvious," Law interrupts him. "That's why I asked about the ninth."

Straw Hat just gives him this _look_ , like Law was the biggest arsehole on the seas for interrupting him. And would Law's conscience be bigger than the void that is his patience reserved for idiocy, he would perhaps feel a tad bad about it. As it is, he just stares back at the other with an impassive face.

Luffy brings up the rest of the eight fingers without naming them, then looks down at the ninth. "Sabo," he says without being able to fight down the smile that overtakes him, although there's a little bit of sadness mixed in it. "I lost Ace, but got Sabo back. I wonder what Dadan would say?"

Law won't ask. Any relationship the Straw Hat has formed seems so utterly bizarre to him, that asking him about them and being baffled by each individual story (although quite similar in content, going along the lines of Luffy crashing into someone's life unexpectedly and insisting on something until things went his way) seems tiring and not worth the brain damage. Instead he hums, "I see," not sure what else he could say.

Nodding, Luffy looks up at him and catches Law's eyes in a gaze from which he can't escape. Vaguely Law remembers being told by various members of the Straw Hat crew that whatever it was the captain of the Heart Pirates thought the rules of this alliance would be, it was secondary compared to Luffy's views on the matter. This fact had been drilled into him throughout their struggles in Dressrosa, time and time again, and the memory of it all makes Law swallow thickly and burrow his jaw a little deeper into the black feathers of his shirt. (And with a hint of regret, he remembers that _he's_ the one who wormed his way into Luffy's life and got what he wanted, not the other way around, and huh, maybe he's in no position to call anybody else insane.)

"The tenth one is _you_ , Torao," Luffy says, smile all teeth as usual and a tint of red colouring his cheeks. With a bit of a delay, because his right arm seems to live a few ticks of time in the past ever since it was cut off and sewn back on (like it has trouble catching up), Law realises that Luffy has decided to hold his hand. Law wonders if Luffy has intentionally selected the arm he had at some point seen lying detached a few meters away from its owner, knowing its current weakness and now taking advantage of it so that Law would have less of a chance to evade his attempt to put more meaning to the confession he has just made. After all, Luffy is, first and foremost, a fighter, and by some instinctual habit he will always be more or less subconsciously (more, probably) scanning those surrounding him in case they needed to be brought down. (Law certainly feels like he's falling.)

"I'm not your crewmate or your brother, though," he mutters back, attempting to sound gruff and annoyed, though that's what it often seems to be with the man in front of him. Just an attempt, because he'll be forever left disappointed that the only reaction the other is reflecting is joy and cheer.

Bringing their joined hands on level with his face, Luffy changes his smile so that it is more in his eyes than it is spread on his mouth, making Law's heart stop with fright when he mistakes the tilt of Luffy's head for a plan to plant his lips against Law's trapped hand. "I know that," the other says, and there's no kiss, but he does lean his warmed cheek against Law's cold fingers which he has yet to let go of.

Law can't hide any further into the feathers than he has already done. Instead he tries to calm himself down with the memory of Luffy bleeding to death on his operation table. How blasé he had been during that time, not really caring what would happen to the other beyond his professional pride as a doctor. The sound of the heart monitor's linear wail before he restarted Straw Hat's heart, twice, and the amount of blood they had to pump back into his veins. The feeling of sinking his hands into Straw Hat's fresh wounds, and the slide of failing organs as he fixed the damage they had suffered, thinking, see, _this_ is all you are. In the end, this is all any of us are. Spilled guts and a broken heart. Me. You.

And even Doflamingo. That is all.

(But applying this logic, he realises, Cora-san would also fall into this category, which is not in _any way true_. And even if his benefactor was the one percent margin error, or the exception that made the rule, then what the hell was Straw Hat?)

"Oh no, captain!" Came a shout, bringing sweet, sweet distraction to their situation. Both captains turn to look at the miserable looking polar bear nearing them, Luffy allowing their hands to drop but still not letting go as he locked his gaze on Law's navigator. "We're in trouble, captain! Oh no!"

"What is it, Bepo?" said captain asked, feeling calmer now that he felt like he was actually in control of something and not caught in an avalanche that showed no signs of stopping.

"Suddenly the teeth of the whole crew have started to decay, captain!" The bear says, waving its paws around urgently. Law has to give Luffy's hand a tug when the other seems overly excited about the bear, still, looking at Bepo talk with an intensity that has Law a bit worried. "A-and Shachi says that while our captain alone is cute, captain, the sight of him together with Straw Hat clogs his arteries, sir!"

"Don't worry about it," he tells the bear while trying to filter out how _happy_ Luffy sounds when he's laughing beside him. "I'm fairly certain it's just another case of stupidity. Nothing a good kick in the head won't cure."

"That's all you ever diagnose them with," Bepo argues, shifting in place a bit nervously when Luffy takes a step towards it.

Raising a brow, Law asks, "Have I ever been wrong?"

The bear shrugs. "I'm just the navigator, captain."

"Hm." Watching his crew pretend they were gagging reminds him of all the things he should be doing right now, like ignoring his idiot crew, prepare and plan ahead, but the way Luffy jitters beside him, full of unspent energy and oozing curiosity, makes Law want to postpone all that for just a few more moments. So he motions Bepo with his finger. "Lay down. Let's have a rest."

"This is no time for resting, captain," the bear protests, though it does as it's told and lays down on the grass. Law says nothing, just walks up to his navigator and sits down beside it, leaning his back against the bear's belly.

"Want to join us?" he asks Straw Hat who practically bounces from how excited the invitation makes him.

"Can I?" Luffy asks Bepo when he comes over and looks down at the bear, restlessly waiting for the response.

"Sure," Bepo says after glancing at its captain, a bit puzzled why the Straw Hat would ask for its permission separately. After all, captain had given direct orders for them to take a rest, and so, a rest was what they were gonna have, whether or not Bepo thought it was a good idea.

There's a 'shishishi~' and then an 'oof!' which the captain choruses with a displeased 'oi!' when Straw Hat leaps onto the bear's stomach, throwing his stretching arms over it and almost knocking Law out of balance when his hip collides with his shoulder.

"You're really soft!" Straw Hat compliments Bepo while half-lying on his belly, cheek pressed against the orange fabric of its uniform.

"Thank you, I suppose," Bepo says distractedly while giving worrying looks at its crewmates, especially Penguin who is clutching his left arm now. It knows captain said not to worry, but the situation was starting to look very serious.

"Do you always sleep together like this?" Bepo is brought back from its worries by the hand that comes to give it a scratch on its neck just where the collar of its uniform begins, the exact place where it gets the itchiest, and its ear twitches by how _nice_ it feels. Captain was right, as usual. Penguin and the rest can suffer all they want, Bepo has other priorities to attend to.

"No," Law provides from beside Straw Hat, somehow warmed by the interaction between his ally and navigator. "But we takes naps, sometimes."

"Chopper is really soft and warm as well, but he fidgets a lot when he sleeps and his hooves really hurt," the other captain babbles mournfully, like he'd want nothing more than to make his doctor his permanent bed mate. "Do you maul people in your sleep too?" he asks then, drumming something out of rhythm against the bear.

"No, not that I'm aware of," Bepo says, and for some reason Luffy looks utterly disappointed, making Law shake his head in wonderment.

"I think your doctor sleeps lightly because on some primitive level his survival depends on it," Law inputs, gaining Luffy's attention. "Bepo's a predator, so he can afford to sleep more deeply."

"I see," the other nods, although the dull look in his eyes tells the truth whether or not he actually got it. "Anyway, I should recruit a bear too! They're so cool!"

"A lady bear?" Bepo asks hopefully, craning its neck to look at the captain's ally, expecting a confirmation.

"What's it matter? A bear's a bear!" Luffy shouts, smacking his hand flat against Bepo's belly, his reaction making the navigator deflect.

"Sorry." it says with an air of fright and depression. Law pats its leg to let his crewmate know it was all right.

With a huff, Luffy flops his head back on the stomach underneath him, pressing his ear against it. They all fall silent after that.

Law hadn't planned on _actually_ resting, but he could feel his eyelids growing heavier when the warmth of both Bepo and Luffy soak into him. Beside him, Luffy is sounding like he's well-entertained as he listens to the sounds of Bepo's internal biology, the heavy beat of its heart, popping joints and groaning digestive system loud in his ear. The background noise too has lessened, probably out of consideration for the two captains, although the few whispers that sill carry all the way to where they are resting are still heavy with complaints over how adorable the sight of them is.

To add to their apparent suffering, Law tugs at the hem of Straw Hat's vest, making the other slide down next to him. Ignorant of the groans this earns them, Luffy blinks a few time, before he makes himself comfortable by leaning heavily against Law, resting his head against his shoulder, where he stays unable to be rid of the soft smile on his face.

"What do you want?" Law asks the other, not certain what he means with his question. Concerning Law? From the future? At this moment? All he was certain of was that Luffy would give the answer that suited him the best.

"To get stronger!" Luffy declares, cheek mushed against Law's shoulder. "Much, much stronger."

It's a bit unexpected, Law muses, since 'Pirate King' would have been his first guess. Though, to get there, Luffy _did_ have to get stronger, and while just gaining more strength was hopelessly vague, it was more of a plan than just somehow gaining the title the other captain was so much after. Just a little bit proud, Law wonders if his persistent insistence that Straw Hat would for once in his life plan ahead before charging into things had finally rubbed off on the other.

"You too, Torao," Luffy says, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt while looking up at him from the odd angles he had fallen into. "You have to get stronger too!"

As if Law needs to be told that! He's reminded of this especially when Straw Hat's hand slides to the seam where his hand had been sewn back on, the touch staying there to make sure he remembers the consequences challenging the monsters roaming this sea had lead into.

"I'll need you beside me when we take down Big Mom or Kaido or whoever," Luffy goes on, small tremors of excitement running down his body as he thinks about the oncoming battles. "After all, this alliance is worthless to me if you'll just be standing behind me, expecting to be protected."

"Who says I'll be involved in your crazy battles after this!" Law barks, not sure if he should be insulted more about the reminder that he wasn't strong enough or the flashed possibility that he'd choose to stand on the back row while others risked their lives for him. "And besides, if you _actually_ followed my plans, then maybe our future victories wouldn't be so hard won."

"Shishishi~" Luffy just laughs at his scolding. Law lets out a frustrated puff of air which Luffy answers with a snort, and after that, it's quiet again.

The air around them is filled with Bepo's soft snores and the for once calm waves of the New World hitting the side of the Thousand Sunny. Surrounded by warmth and calmness should make Law feel relaxed, but instead he just feels utterly drained by it all. There's too much to think about, and he's sure the next couple of days will be spent without much sleep.

"Get stronger, Torao," Luffy mutters from beside him, voice heavy with sleepiness. He goes to capture Law's hand in his again, interlacing their fingers and leans heavier against him. "Out of all our new allies, you're the one I'm counting on the most."

The thudding in his breast grows almost painful, and not for the first time, Law wonders if he's taken too big of a bite of something he can't chew. There's no doubt in Straw Hat's voice when he talks about their distant future, of them standing side by side, equal in strength (though perhaps of different kinds, Law strong in strategy while Luffy relies solely on the brutality of his being) as they tear down the dinosaurs of the New World and make it theirs.

These future battles aside, Law ponders on the current brawl of wills he's stuck in with this stubborn mule. His own reluctance to abide by the desires of others would have him deny everything the other is expecting of him, out of pure spite if anything, yet still, here he is snuggled up close, unable to form plans without also including the guaranteed survival of the Straw Hat crew.

Closing his eyes, Law tries to empty his mind of these thoughts. He'll try Straw Hat's tactic for once, and leaves worrying till later. He's got plenty of time to figure this all out once the Heart Pirates take their leave.

(And he will ignore the pitying looks Luffy's crew cast at him, like it's a battle he has lost long before even realising he should be fighting back. Law is not the losing type. He's not.

He's not.)

 **END**


End file.
